Good food at Manda centrale

Ever since the market in front our office got closed, I never had the chance to eat real food during night office hours. Mang Pepe's, food channel and some affordable home made ulam's are nowhere in sight near our office. Mc Donald's is a good pick and so with other fast food chains like KFC and jollibee, but I do not want to eat there most of the time due to the food's adverse effects and with its price.

So when Manda Centrale started, I grabbed the opportunity to go there when budget permits and eat good foods that would satisfy my palate and craving. Manda centrale reminds me of banchetto where my officemates and I used to visit during paydays and Fridays. The smoke of grilled foods plus the numerous choices of foods are really enjoyable most especially if you go there with your friends.

Too bad, according to the owner of moshi moshi stall (they sell really delicious takoyaki's) told my friend and i that Manda centrale is not staying there for good. They have a contract which is only good for 4 weeks, and still not sure if they can renew it. Well, i hope it stays there for good since eating good food even at it's not so affordable rates are really pleasurable. I am already fed up eating oats and crackers, bread and junks during work hours. I bet other call center employees near the vicinity of this food hub hope that manda centrale would stay there permanently too.

I only have one week to savor the goodness of the foods being offered there. I promise to buy more takoyaki's and to eat more of the Macheesemo burger! Plus the cheesecake cupcake and mochi and other grilled foods! Haha.

Spicy italian pasta with cheesy meatballs

I've been craving for pasta these past few days, so this morning, i decided to prepare pasta as our breakfast. Yes breakfast! :) I added jumbo cheesy meatballs to make it more italian. Thank you to Del monte for offering different flavors of spaghetti sauces. You truly satisfied my craving!

What you need:

For the meatballs:

1/4 ground beef

1 sachet of magic sarap

1/2 cup of breadcrumbs

1/4 teaspoon of pepper

1/2 cup of cheese cut into cubes

Cooking oil for deep frying

For the pasta

250 ml italian spaghetti sauce

1/2 kilo of spaghetti noodles

1 can of hot and spicy tuna, drained

1 can of mushroom

1 medium onion, sliced

What you need to do:

* Cook the noodles as per instructions. I added 2 tablespoons of oil to keep it from being soggy, and a dash of salt to make the noodles tastier. Set aside.

* On a bowl, mix the ingredients for the meatballs except the cubed cheese and bread crumbs.

* Form the mixture to balls. Carefully insert the cheese in the middle.

* Dredge the meatballs on bread crumbs.

* Deep fry, and set aside.

* On another pan, heat the cooking oil, add the onions.

* Cook the tuna. Add the spaghetti sauce then the mushroom. Let it simmer for 5 minutes.

* Put the fried meatballs and coat them with the sauce.

* Top the noodles with spaghetti sauce.

* Serve with love and happy eating!

My second attempt of steak ala pork ckop

Here's a better version of steak ala pork chop 😂

Steak ala Pork Chop

Hubby loved this recipe, simple and yet sumptuous. According to him, it tastes like steak. Perhaps it's because of the liquid seasoning that I always use whenever marinating. Isn't it amazing whenever you transform a simple recipe to a sumptuous one? Mind you, the pork that I used yesterday is less than 1/4 and only one person can eat it. ☺ Good thing, I am not that hungry last night when I cooked it. Thank you to our generous neighbor too for "showering" us a lot of food last night!

What you need
Porkchop (5 pieces)
Magnolia butter - garlic flavor
5 tablespoons of knorr liquid seasoning
1 tablespoon of worcestershire sauce
1/4 teaspoon of ground black pepper

What you need to do

* Marinate the pork chop with knorr and worcestershire for 30 minutes.

* Melt the butter, cook the pork chop.

* Serve with love and happy eating!

PS: tomorrow i will share a better version of this recipe. With soup and side dish 👏

Cheese fingers

Here's another way of cooking cheese - much the same with the cheese sticks recipe I posted but I find this more delicious because it tastes like a mini ham and cheese roll ; but without the actual bread and ham.

Before frying

After

What you need

1 block of cheese

1/2 cup of bread crumbs

1 egg, lightly beaten

1/2 cup of flour

Canola oil for frying

What you need to do:

* Slice the cheese (please refer the pic below for the estimate size) if you're really into cheese then you can make it bigger.

* Since the cheese is dry we need to dip it to the egg first, then coat if with the flour, and dip it again to the egg.

* Dredge with bread crumbs. make sure the slices of cheese are coated with bread crumbs to prevent the cheese from melting outside one you fry it.

* Do this with the rest of the cheese.

* Deep fry.

* Happy eating!

Meatballs with mushroom gravy

You can do so much with ground pork, but what I love about it is its flexibility because you get to do whatever you want to do with it. Form them into patties, round them, cook them by bits and pieces. An added factor about this ingredient too is that kids tend to love it no matter how you cook it. Say you make your own patties and be experimental with the sauce of picadillo, for sure they would still appreciate it.

So for today's lunch, I made my own version of meatballs. Their verdict? Really flavorful!

What you need

1/2 ground pork

1/4 tablespoon of garlic powder

1/4 tablespoon of ginger powder

1 sachet of magic sarap

Dash of ground black pepper

1 red onion, minced

1/2 cup of japanese bread crumbs

Canola cooking oil for deep frying

Mc cormick mushroom gravy sauce

What you need to do

* On a mixing bowl combine all the ingredients except for the bread crumbs.

* Form the mixture into balls but not too big because you may have a hard time cooking it - like cooked on the outside but still raw inside.

* Dredge with panko bread crumbs

* Heat the cooking oil. Deep fry in batches.

* Serve with mushroom gravy on the side. Happy eating!

Tip: Put the meatballs only when the oil is already hot. :) Set the fire from Low to medium. If set to high, chances are the outer layer is already cooked and the inside is still raw.

Blanched Sayote Tops

Minimalist. That's how I describe this very simple recipe. 

Well, if you love GREEN, LEAFY, VEGETABLES, I am pretty sure that you will really appreciate this humble dish. Simple and healthy. Need I say more? ☻

What you need: 

* Bunch of sayote tops 

* Tomato, sliced

* 2 to 3 table spoons of bagoong 

What you need to do: 

♥ Blanch the sayote tops of 3 to 5 minutes; or until cooked 

♥ Combine the bagoong and tomato. 

♥ Dip the sayote tops to tomato and bagoong. 

♥ Serve with love and happy eating! 

PS: Since I have been trying to change my life style, I replaced my junk foods by eating this dish every WEEKENDS. haha.